Where to Order Birth Certificates

WHERE TO ORDER U.S. BIRTH CERTIFICATES, STATE BY STATE. Near the end you'll find some limited info on other countries. Thanks to Lois Rodden and AstroDataBank for many of the following pointers.

In 1968, the U.S. Dept. of Health Education & Welfare passed a law that the birth time must be on the birth certificate (but apparently this law isn't always followed). Before 1968, sometimes the state agencies have a record of the birth time, even if it's not on the birth certificate itself, so please inquire about that possibility. Sometimes the county seat of the birthplace may have a record if the state agency doesn't. Usually, the certificate is only available to you, not to someone asking for you, unless that someone is your legal representative.

When requesting a birth certificate, include your birth name, date and place, mother's maiden name and father's name. Mention that you need it for research (if you don't need the legal copy) and make sure to say that you need the birth time on the document. If they can't find it, the fee is usually not refundable.

It's best to let your astrologer determine what time zone was in effect at your birth place on that date, rather than try to adjust it yourself. If you still can't find your birthtime after contacting your state agency, look into the possibility of rectification. We recommend Braden Diotte. Also see Edna Rowland's book, How To Obtain Your Birth Certificate . published in 1990 by the American Federation of Astrologers .

PLEASE NOTE: In some cases, the addresses, fees and phone numbers below are a few years old. If you have any updates or additions to the information below, please email us so we can keep this page current. Also, if you have more information than what we have at the bottom of the page about how to obtain your birth time if you were born outside of the U.S. please email us and we'll add it. We hope you find what you need!

ALABAMA Vital Records, PO Box 5625, Montgomery AL 36103. The fee for the search of the file is $12.00 which includes one certified copy of the results of the search. Additional copies of the same record ordered at the same time are $4.00 each. There are additional fees for expedited services. The website is www.adph.org. Go to the site and select FAST FIND, and Vital Records. The telephone number is 334 206 5418. IMPORTANT UPDATE: One astrologer reports that birth times are NOT available from ALABAMA when a birth certificate copy is ordered, no matter whether online or by mail. Alabama provides the birth time ONLY on the decorative copy of the birth certificate that is provided to the mother at the time of birth.

ALASKA: (Thank you, Apprentice student and former Alaskan, Lynne Mullen, who graciously took the time and trouble to find us this data.) Department of Health and Social Services, Bureau of Vital Statistics, P.O. Box 110675, Juneau, AK 99811-0675 Fee: $15.00. Money orders should be made payable to Bureau of Vital Statistics. Personal checks are not accepted. Credit cards are accepted; in addition to the baseline $15.00 fee for the birth certificate, there is an extra $11.00 credit card processing fee. To verify current fees, the telephone number is (907) 465-3391; this will be a recorded message. The state office has kept records since January 1913. They do not have birth times between 1949 through 1968.

CALIFORNIA (thanks to our site visitors for updating us.) State Department of Health Services, Office of Vital Records, 304 "S" St, P.O. Box 730241, Sacramento, CA 94244-0241. The fee is $14.00. You can also get information and download a birth certificate request form from their web site .

COLORADO Vital Records, 4300 Cherry Creek South Dr. Glendale, CO 80246 (303) 756-4464; website: http://www.vitalchek.com Fee: $15.00 for the first, $6.00 for an additional copy. This information is current as of April 23, 2001. Thanks to our site visitors for updating us!

FLORIDA Office of Vital Statistics, Vital Records Section, POB 210, Jacksonville FL 32231-0042. You must order the $14.00 "photocopy certificate" to get the time of birth; the $9.00 version does not include it. 904-359-6900. Thanks to our site visitors for this update!

GEORGIA - Online Site or http://www.vitalchek.com You may telephone VitalChek at 1-877-572-6343, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. If overnight delivery is requested you will be charged an additional fee for this service. You may use the VitalChek fax service to request a record, but copies of birth certificates cannot be sent by fax. In person: Request a birth certificate in person at the state Vital Records Office or County Vital Records Office in the county where the birth occurred. By US Mail: mail a request to: Vital Records 2600 Skyland Drive NE Atlanta, GA 30319-3640 404-656-4900. Search Fee (includes one certified copy, if the record is found on file) $10.00.

ILLINOIS - IL Dept of Public Health, Division of Vital Records, 605 W. Jefferson St, Springfield IL 62702 fee $15.00 first copy, $2.00 additionals, 217-782-6553. You can also get a copy at the courthouse in the county you were born.

INDIANA - Indiana State Department of Health Attention: Vital Records P. O. Box 7125 Indianapolis, IN 46206-7125 (317) 233-2700 Fee is now $10. The street address for anyone who would like to go in person is: ISDH Casual Corner Bldg. 2 North Meridian Street Indianapolis, IN 46204 From one of our website visitors: "It is my understanding that it has been the law in Indiana since 1907 that the birth time be recorded on all birth certificates." The state also now requires proof of identity before they will send the birth certificate. The time quoted for receiving it is 6 weeks.

KENTUCKY - Vital Statistics, Dept for Health Services, 275 East Main St. Frankfort KY 40621 Fee $10.00, tel. 502-564-4212 Kentucky birth certificates can be ordered three ways: by phone, by mail or by going to the office (a one hour wait is likely). If a credit card is used, an additional $5.50 fee will be added to your order. Office hours are 8 AM to 3:30 PM Monday thru Friday.

MARYLAND - Division of Vital Records, Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene POB 13146, Baltimore MD 21203 410-764-3160 or 410-764-3174. The fee is $13.00 and takes 5-7 days. They will rush it for $12 more.

MASSACHUSETTS - Registry of Vital Records 150 Mount Vernon Street Dorchester, MA 02125 Fees $11 record via mail; $19 over the phone; $31 over the phone and Fed Ex, 617-740-2600. Before 1943 the birth certificates did not record the time of birth. The hospitals did in a separate record,but may not have kept them until now.

MICHIGAN - Thanks to our site visitors for this update. Vital Records Requests *If expedited service requested, address request to: Vital Records RUSH, PO Box 30721,Lansing MI 48909. Fee $15.00 first copy; $5.00 additionals. If you wish expedited service (non-genealogy requests) please include an additional $5.00. Call 517-335-8656 for recorded message to have an application mailed or 517-335-8666 to speak with a customer service representative if you have specific questions. MICHIGAN DID NOT RECORD BIRTH TIMES FOR THE YEARS 1950 TO 1967. It did record times on birth certificates for the years prior to 1950 and those after 1967, right up to the present. Records can be ordered directly online using a credit card or applications downloaded from their website.

MISSOURI - Thanks to our site visitors for this update! Bureau of Vital Records, MO Dept of Health, POB 570, Jefferson City MO 65102 (573)751-6387. $10 per copy. Copies can be ordered over the phone with a credit card for an additional fee of $4.95.

NEW YORK CITY - NYC Dept of Health, Divsion of Vital Records, 125 Worth St. Box 4, New York NY 10013 Fee $15.00, no personal checks, 212-566-7851; 212-566-7854; 212-566-7855 Also, people can get copies of birth/marriage/death certificates from NYC at this site, and can place orders online.

OREGON - Oregon Vital Statistics, POB 14040, Portland OR 97293-0050 Fee $15.00, additional at $12.00. 503-731-4095 or 4108. Money order works best and fastest. Also in person @ 800 NE Oregon St Suite 205, Portland OR 97293 Must use your credit card when ordering by these methods: www.oshd.org by fax 503.234.8417

PENNSYLVANIA - Thanks to our site visitors for this update! Division of Vital Statistics, P.O. Box 1528, Central Bldg. 101 South Mercer St. New Castle, PA 16103 Fee: $4.00 Phone: (724) 656-3100 Astrologer Amanda Owen has composed a page about birth time info for PA. Here's a link that explains how birth times are recorded in Pennsylvania, along with a list of hospitals she's collected over the years. Thanks, Amanda! PA Time Project

SOUTH CAROLINA - Vital Records Section, Office of Vital Records and Public Health Statistics, 2600 Bull Street, Columbia, SC 29201 Fee: $5.00 first copy, $1.00 additionals. If you need to order the long form (which has much more information on it), you can go to the SC DHEC website at http://www.scdhec.gov/administration/vr/index.htm and order a birth certificate by mail, instead of using the Vitalcheck link. Vitalcheck only offers the abbreviated Birth Certificate Photo. The long form is $12, plus $5 if you want to expedite the request. (803) 734-4830

TEXAS - Bureau of Vitail Statistics, Texas Dept. of Health, 1100 West 49th St. Austin, TX 78756-3191 Fee: $5.00. Fax (512.) 458-7451; Tel. 512.458.7111 Thanks for this information from one of our website visitors: "In Texas, there are two birth certificate forms / types. The short form (which gets a child into school) does NOT list birth time. The long form DOES contain the birth time. Also, in Texas I believe you have to be either the person whose birth certificate it is, or a direct immediate family member, to request a birth certificate."

The long and short forms for birth certificates both cost the same - $22. The long version has both parents names and birth dates. This form is now the only acceptable form for receiving passports for any age (unless you are an adult and have a current or expired passport).

VIRGINIA - Thanks to our site visitors for this update! The fee since July 1, 2004 has gone up to $12 and the website is www.vdh.virginia.gov. There are live customer service reps available to answer questions and two are bilingual. The phone number is 804-662-6200 and the mailing address is 1601 Willow Lawn Drive, Ste. 275, Richmond, VA 23230.

WASHINGTON STATE - Thanks to one of our site visitors for the update. Department of Health P.O. Box 9709 Olympia, WA. 98507-9709 Fee: $17.00, (360) 236-4300 A site visitor reports: "They did not record birth times in WA State Dept of Health from 1947-1968. That was true for my birth certificate, hospital record, and County records. I am told that it is true for all of WA state."

OVERSEAS: Thanks to our site visitors for pointing out that a lot of information about births outside of the U.S. for both US citizens and non US citizens, can be had at VitalCheck. http://www.vitalchek.com. where you can get up to date birth certificate information for the 50 States, the territories, and for some foreign countries (use the International Agencies link). Start there before you read further down this page. Our site visitors are helping us out by emailing us what they know, and that information is listed below. Thanks to everyone who's written in!

Thanks to Lois Rodden and AstroDataBank, we can tell you when the following countries started recording birth times:

Austria, Jan 1, 1939

Belgium, 1793

France, Sep 22, 1792

Denmark, 1862

Germany, Jan 1, 1792

Frankfurt 1851

Italy, Jan 1, 1866

Kingdom Naples and Sicily, 1820

Netherlands, 1793

Scotland, 1855

Switzerland, Jan 1, 1876

Geneva Oct 22, 1798

Lausanne Jul 1, 1821

Neuchatel Mar 1, 1854

FRANCE: Our contact says: Go to or telephone the town hall (la mairie) of the town where you were born. Give the name and date of birth, and ask for the birth time. Sometimes they give you the information by phone and sometimes you have to write them a letter.

GREAT BRITAIN AND COLONIES don't record birth time on the registration unless the birth was twins (because the oldest one is the legal heir). As of 1998, there was no officially recorded birth time in Ireland, Wales, Australia, Canada or British India.

MEXICO: We hear that that the best place to get accurate birth information if you were born there is from the hospital where you were born. One of our site visitors told us that her mother said one time, her birth certificate said another, but the hospital records were accurate for both her and her own child, whose birthtime she did know!

TURKEY: Contact the hospital where you were born, and / or the attending doctor, and of course your family. Hospitals record birth times. There is a birth certificate. But the hospital gives it and it is not registered with the government; the doctor signs it. Our contact doesn't know when this practice first started, but guesses it's within the past 10-20 years.

If you have any further information about obtaining information for births outside the U.S. please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we'll put it on the site.